


Now and Forever

by Overthinkerwrites



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-13
Updated: 2016-12-13
Packaged: 2018-09-08 07:48:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8836297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Overthinkerwrites/pseuds/Overthinkerwrites
Summary: When the Void has consumed most of Runeterra, all that stands between them and Bandle is Poppy. And Poppy still has not found the hero.





	

When Poppy took in her breath, got to her feet, still woozy and trying to regain her sight proper.

Before her, stood the countless legions of the Void.

The major city states and their off-shoots were gone.

Only a handful of survivors had made it to Bandle City, the last bulwark against the Void.

Alone, Poppy took in another breath.

She had recalled her parting words with Tristana, before she, Veigar, Lulu, and Heimerdinger were to search the Ruins of Targon for the keys to find the Arclight, the only thing that could rend the Voidlings in two as easily as the sun cut through the morning mist.

Alone, Poppy took in another breath.

Tristana’s words had been harsh. Her eyes filled with tears as she had cut through Poppy’s hesitation. She, like most others, were on the brink of despair and the heated argument they got in had not helped matters.

Alone, Poppy took in another breath.

*

“You ‘ARE’ the hero! You always were the hero! You are meant to be the hero! WHY?! WHY DO YOU KEEP DENYING IT!?”

Poppy’s lip trembled in fear as she whispered in response, “What… what if I do it wrong? What if I’m not the hero people think I am?”

“Then do better!” Tristana screeched, wiping away the moisture beneath her eyes. “Just keep being the hero and you’ll do better at it. Like you always have been! Heroes are heroes because they don’t give up and neither should you!”

Poppy struggled and then looked Tristana in the eye, who was still angered and frustrated.

Her mouth opened to try and dodge the issue with another question before Tristana threw her hands up.

“You know what? Forget it! You win, you stubborn rock! You’re not the hero! You’re a coward! The Poppy I know and love would never back down anything!” she yelled before turning her back, hefting her cannon, which was falling apart from overuse, and joined the others, leaving Poppy alone.

*

Alone, Poppy took in another breath.

Tristana was right.

She was a coward.

However, while she never would admit to being the hero, perhaps… maybe… For a moment, she could be the hero.

Just this once.

"I am king of my own lands."

She closed her eyes and immediately, the plates on her Battle Regalia began to glow as she recited the incantation Orlon had taught her when she had been given the Hammer.

"The facing tempest of dust; I fight until the end."

The gold outlines of her armor shone with its own immutable luster. The white plates blared a light that caused the countless eyes of the Void to turn on her. The jewel on her helmet flashed brighter than the midday sun, creating a perfect sphere around her.

"Creatures of my dreams, rise up and dance with me."

Her skin soon changed color to that of a more alive and vibrant gold, with red streaks following the contour of her eyes and down her cheeks.

“Now and forever,” she said, her voice amplified by the power flowing through her, no longer a simple yordle, but something greater. Her weapon, not Orlon’s, not the hero’s, but her weapon also flared to light with the radiance of the purest diamond.

She opened her eyes, which shone like her hammer.

“I AM KING!”

The Void recoiled in fear.

She charged and with each swing, several, dozens, hundred, and subsequently thousands of Void creatures were consumed in Poppy’s immutable presence.

The broken army and the survivors from Bandle looked on in shock as one of the surviving Demacian soldiers shout, “The Hero! The Hero has come!”

Immediately, the survivors rallied and joined the fray, hoping to aid her, despite the still hopeless numbers.

As if on queue, the darkened sky, broke and from between the clouds, very much like dawn breaking through the shadows, the survivors turned to see their prayers for salvation answered.

Adorned in silver and gold, with several streams of light from its core, Vel’Koz, the Arclight of Dissemination, emerged with the other mortals of Runeterra blessed by the Light of the Cosmos. It reared its head and from its single oculus, a beam of energy shot through to the infinite legion of the Void and filled it with Light, granting Poppy access to the heart of the army.

Aware of Vel’koz’s work, Poppy then changed direction and headed to the now unprotected Prophet of the Void; Malzahar, whose very existence now allowed the Void to spill into the world, unchecked.

She raised her malus, spun it around with all the strength of a tornado, catching many voidlings in its draw, and then slammed down the head, breaking earth and sending her power to the vulnerable Prophet.

The prophet could not even have time to scream when the light then caught him unaware and with such an incredible amount of force from both the Void and the Arclight, he was completely destroyed. The resulting explosion tore apart the countryside and even Poppy, with her power unleashed could not resist as countless tons of rock, void flesh, and clouds collided with her.

*

Poppy blinked a she tried to peek through the slits of her eyes to see through the blinding light around her.

“Hello, my friend,” a man’s voice called to her.

She pushed herself to her feet and in front of her, sitting casually upon the same floor she lay on, was Orlon.

He didn’t look a day older when they first met. His dark brown skin worn from the many years of travel, the wizened and whitening hair that used to be black, and the calm and steady hazel eyes that had caught the Yordle’s attention in the first place.

“Orlon?” she asked.

“The same,” he answered simply.

“Am… am I dead?” she asked further.

The man shrugged his shoulders. “Who knows, however, it is good to see you, regardless.”

Immediately, her questions didn’t seem so important anymore.

Tentatively, she walked up to him, reached up to his face, to see if he was real and placed her palms upon his cheeks. He gave her a humored smile when her eyes widened to see she could feel him.

She then pulled his head down slightly, then stood up a bit further to kiss him upon his forehead.

“I missed you, _Re-Lamado_ ," she whispered forlorn. Using a term from Old Bandle to describe one who was beloved, but not Yordle.

He then drew her close. “And I you, Penelope,” he responded in kind. “it is good we had this chance to speak one last time. At last, you became the hero I knew you would be.”

Poppy was silent.

He picked up on her thought and smiled that same blasted smile that seemed to break down her defiance whenever she was most stubborn.

“What if.. what I came here and I wasn’t… the hero?”

“Then we would not have met again. When I was given the materials to create that hammer, I was told that I would see the Hero it was meant for,” he smiled again. “And I knew, from the first day we met, it was you.”

Poppy cocked and eyebrow and put her hands on her hips. “That was rather fast, wasn’t it?”

Orlon threw his head back and laughed. “Stranger things have happened.”

Now it was Poppy’s turn to smile and giggle a bit in agreement.

Soon, Orlon’s face returned to its serene demeanor, knowing the time to part was near. “Thank you, Penelope. For everything.”

She nodded once. “Thank you, Orlon. _Re-Lamado_.”

He looked to the left and smiled, “perhaps it’s time you returned. Someone is waiting for you.”

Poppy blinked. “What?”

*

Poppy’s head lay in a crying Tristana’s lap and gasped for air.

“Pops?! POPPY!” the gunner cried as she began to rain kisses on Poppy’s face. The prone yordle could only take it as best she could, glad that Tristana was there.

When Poppy could finally get a word in edge wise, she found her throat parched and itchy. She then found she ached all over and coughed when she tried to speak.

“Not bad for a second rate hero, huh?” Poppy rasped with a smirk.

Tristana only smiled again, her tears reappearing in force again as she kissed Poppy again. “Not bad at all.”

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Poppy's Battle Regalia skin and M83's 'Outro' (https://youtu.be/1DJ3-BVMjOs).


End file.
